Ceiling with controlled ventilation



Jan. 12, 1960 w. M. ERICSON CEILING WITH CONTROLLED VENTILATION 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 26, 1956 INVENTOR. Wan-Ere M. ER/c 5 0A/ BY w mfim Jan. 12, 1960 w. M. ERICSON CEILING WITH CONTROLLED VENTILATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 1956 INVENTOR. WAL TEE M. Eelc olv United States Patent 2,920,357 CEILING WITH CONTROLLED VENTILATION Walter M. Ericson, Wauwatosa, Wis. Application April 26, 1956, Serial No. 580,738 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to ventilation.

A major feature of the invention resides in the versatility of the grid structure which supports ceiling panels. Regardless of the dimensions of the room, the ceiling can be subdivided into panels of uniform dimensions and a grid can readily be fabricated on the job to supply seats for the panels.

The grid is made up of hollow runners which are suspended below the true ceiling to provide a pressure chamber into which air is admitted for distribution. The hollow runners not only support the ceiling panels but constitute valve chambers within which special valves are slidably adjustable for the regulation of air flow through all parts of the ceiling, the objective usually being to render such flow uniform at all points.

Certain of the runners serve as stringers and are suspended on wires depending from the true ceiling and equipped with special clips readily and speedily engageable with the wires at any level. The clips are so formed as to interlock with the hollow runners which serve as stringers and each clip has deformed tongues which, when straightened out with a pair of pliers or the like, anchor the clip tightly to the hollow runner to prevent displacement in any direction.

Each runner is provided with integral laterally projecting flanges which are of double thickness, being made by a fold in the metal. The lateral runners rest on these flanges of the string runners and are cross connected over the stringer runners by means of special fittings and clips similar to those used as a part of the supports for the stringers, the arrangement providing such security of anchorage that the several runners make a very rigid grid of any dimensions. 7

The several runners are not only connected to each other but to molding strips of special design applied to the side walls of the runners and having flanges on which the ends of the runners rest and other flanges with which the runners have interlocking connection. Every connection is rigid and secure, yet every connection is made substantially instantaneously and with great case on the part of the operator.

All of the runners are desirably provided with rows of slots through which air has controlled flow from the datum chamber into the room. Strips of metal reciprocable longitudinally within the runners have slots registrable with the slots of the runners and serve as slide valves to regulate air flow. Desirably these valve strips are marginally flanged to constitute shallow channels so that they will move smoothly within the runners. Desirably, also, each strip is provided with a small orifice intermediate its slots for manipulation by a tool which may be inserted through the slot of the runner in a manner hereinafter described. Ordinarily a number of valve strips will be interconnected to move as'a train throughout the length of an elongated runner, each strip having an upturned tongue at one end and a transverse slot in a ceiling with controlled the other through which the tongue of a preceding strip of wire. fitting by moving it toward the right as viewed in Fig. 6,-

is engaged. Thus the adjustment of one strip of the train will effect concurrent adjustment of all in like degree.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a false ceiling embodying the invention, portions of the true ceiling and of the walls of the room being shown fragmentarily in section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary inverted plan view of the false ceiling on a reduced scale, the room walls being shown fragmentarily in section.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view in perspective showing the connection between a runner and a molding which positions the end thereof.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale in perspective showing portions ofseveral runners, one of which is engaged by a support and others of which are being manipulated into position for mutual engagement with each other.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentarydetail view of an inverted runner, in perspective.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective showing a supporting wire and associated clip being moved together for interconnection.

Fig. 7 is a viewin longitudinal section through a hollow runner used as a stringer, showing interconnected valve strips therewithin.

Fig. 8 is a view taken in section on the line 88 of Fig. 7 showing hollow runners interconnected with the stringer runner shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in perspective showing a valve strip and the adjusting tool used in the manipulation thereof.

Purely by way of eXemplification, the ceiling 10 may comprise a slab and the floor 11 a similar slab. The walls 12 may also be of masonry. The room has an air inlet duet at 13 and an air outlet duct at 14 through which air may be circulated to and from the room for heating, for cooling, or for ventilation.

At the height of the desired false ceiling, the room is spanned by a grid of hollow runners of a specialized form developed for use in the present invention. In one direction, the runners 15 may serve as stringers and may be continuous from one side of the room to the other, desirably being spaced equidistantly from each other and from the side walls. In the other direction, the similar runners 16 extend only from one stringer runner 15 to the next, or from the last runner 15 to the side wall of the room. The runners 15,, which serve as stringers for the false ceiling, are suspended from the true ceiling by means of supporting wires 17 which conventionally are anchored at 18 into the ceiling 10. I use the same type of wires which are. commonly used to support false ceiling work. However, for the purposes of the present invention, the wires 17 are cut to uniform length and have a terminal portion bent laterally as shown at 19 in Fig. 6. The special fitting 20 is then engaged with the wire.

The fitting 20. comprises a piece of sheet metal having an aperture at 21 to receive the wire terminal 19 and having tongues 22 and 23 which project outwardly in mutually spaced relation to receive the vertical length After the wire has been associated with the the operator simply engages the several tongues 22 and 23 about the wire by manipulating the tongues with a pair of pliers. The same tool is used to turn up the terminal portion 19 of the wire, leaving the fitting 20 securely fastened to the wire.

The fitting 20 includes shoulders at 25 defining a lower terminal head portion 26 above which tongues 27 and 28 are initially deflected oppositely at angles of perhaps thirty degrees or more from the vertical. These are used to fix the position of each fitting 20 respecting one of the hollow stringer runners in a manner presently to be described.

Each of the runners 15 and 16 comprises a bottom Wall portion 36 provided with longitudinally spaced slots 31 best shown in the inverted view of hollow runner in Fig. 5. The sheet metal is folded back upon itself at 32 to provide two-ply flanges 33 at each side of the hollow runner. Thence the sheet metal extends upwardly to provide side Walls at 34 and finally flanges are turned in wardly at 35, their margins being spaced to provide an open slot 36 which is continuous lengthwise of the hollow runner.

Each fitting 20 in turn is twisted to bring its portion 26 into registry with the slot 36 of a runner 15, whereupon the head is introduced into the runner and the fitting is turned ninety degrees to engage the shoulders of the fitting beneath the flanges 35 of the runner as shown in Fig. 4. The tongues 27 and 28 are then forced with the pliers back toward the plane of fitting 20 until they crampingly engage top surfaces of flanges 35 as shown in Fig. 4. This engagement wedges the fitting and the hollow runner into a connection so secure as to require very considerable force to dislodge the fitting in any direction from the position shown. Thus, by means of a succession of such fittings and supporting wires, each of the hollow runners 15 which serves as a stringer will be permanently and securely supported. All of the wirm having been cut to the same length, each of the hollow runners will be maintained at the identical level throughout its length.

The hollow runners 16 are identical in construction. Each may have its bottom wall 30 and the upper ply of its flanges 33 cut away to provide a notch 38 as best shown in Fig. 4. The notch of runner 16 receives the two-ply flange of the stringer runner 15 upon which the lower margins of the side wall portions of the transverse runners 16 are then supported as clearly shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 8.

With two opposite hollow runners 16 supported on the hollow runner stringer 15, the strap 40 is laid across the junction between the runners. The strap has terminal slots 4-1 overlying the slots 36 of lateral runners 13 and has an intermediate slot 42 overlying the continuous slot 36 of the stringer runner 15. Three anchoring clips 45 are then inserted into the several slots 41 and 42, turned ninety degrees in the slots to engage their heads 260 in the runners and their shoulders 250 with runner flanges 35. The clips 45 have tongues 270 and 280 corresponding identically to the tongues 27 and 23 of fittings 26. With the clips in position these tongues are straightened out toward the plane of the clip and into wedging engagement with flanges in exactly the same manner in which the tongues 27 and 28 of fitting 26 were wedged against runner 15. A secure union between the lateral runner and stringer runner is thereby achieved, as is clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

At the same level at which the stringer runners 15 are suspended, there is screwed to each of the walls 12 a special molding 56 developed for the purposes of the present invention and best shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This molding is provided along its upper margin with a downwardly turned flange 51 normally spaced slightly from the rear web 52 of the molding. From the bottom margin of the web projects a horizontal flange 53 sharply folded on itself at 54 to provide a two-ply flange at 330- identical in form and width with the flanges 33 of the hollow runners. The terminal edge of the sheet metal is turned upwardly at 346 to correspond to a portion of the side walls 34 of the hollow runners.

Each of the hollow runners 16 at the side of the room notched at 33 in the manner already described, and the ends of stringer runners 15 at the ends of the room, will rest on one of the molding flanges 330, abutting the upwardly turned flange 340 and will be connected securely to the wall by means of a slight modification of the clip 40 as shown at 400 in Fig. 3. The clip 4% is identical with clip 40 except that its end is turned upwardly at 55 to be received beneath flange 51 and there locked by a blow with a hammer or screwdriver to indent flange 51 as shown at 56. The strip 4% is connected with the adjacent runner 16 by one of the clips 45, above described, which extends through its slot 41 and has its head 26% twisted to underlie the flanges 35 of runner 16. It will be understood that the reason why the strip 4% is shown in Fig. 3 to have two unused slots is because the identical strap 4% shown in Fig. 4 is used, the only change being the upward folding of its terminal portion 55.

Completion of the grid by suspending the several stringers .15 and moldings 50 and positioning the cross runners thereon will provide rectangular seats, each of which comprises four of the flanges 33, upon which any desired type of panel 66 may be mounted. Hard board, wall board, metal or gypsum tiles, mineral wool and other materials are appropriate. These panels are retained by gravity. Any one of them may readily be removed by simply pushing it upwardly to give access to the plenum chamber to which air is supplied through the conduit 13.

Air escapes from the plenum chamber through the slots 31 subject to the control of slide valves 61. Each of these valves comprises a strip of sheet metal desirably stiffened by the provision of marginal flanges 62. Each valve strip 61 has slots at 63 which correspond in length and spacing to the slots 31 provided in the bottom wall 39 of each of the hollow runners. Between slots, the slide valve strip 61 is desirably provided with small orifices 64 to be engaged by one or the other of the hooked or straight points 65 or 66 of the manipulating tool shown in Fig. 9. The hooked end 65 of the tool is readily insertable through the slots 31 and 63 when these are in full or substantial registration. Once inserted into the hollow runner through the registering slots, the hook 65 may be engaged in the orifice 64 and used to manipulate the slide. As the slide is moved in a direction to reduce air flow by moving the slot 63 of the slide strip out of registry with the slots 31 of the runners, it will eventually become impossible to complete this motion with the hooked end 65 of the tool and the tool will therefore be withdrawn. However, the hole 64 will have become accessible over one of the slots 31 of the runner and the other end 66 of the tool will now be inserted into the orifice 64 from beneath the ceiling to complete the ad justrnent of the valve.

It is possible to adjust a valve of any length in this manner and it is possible to efiect any desired adjustment to control with great accuracy the relative flow of air through all portions of the ceiling.

However, to avoid the necessity of tailoring each valve strip to fit the particular length of the hollow runner in which it is used, it is preferred to make the valve strips relatively short and to connect into a train or series as many of these strips as may be needed. To this end, each of the strips desirably has a transversely slotted terminal portion 67 which is slightly offset upwardly and projects beyond the flanges 62 at one end of the strip. At the other end of the strip there is a projecting tongue portion 68 upturned terminally at 69, the hooked terminal portion 69 being receivable into the slot 70 of the ofiset portion 67 of the next adjacent strip. In Fig. 7 I have shown two of these slide valve strips in connection and it will be evident that the manipulation of either will eflect concurrent adjustment of both.

There are many advantages of the ceiling disclosed. In the first place, it uses the same supporting wires with which workmen are used to dealing in the erection of any false ceiling. In the second place, it employs a very few fittings of special design to support the false ceiling grid with great accuracy at the desired level. In the third place, the fittings can be manipulated with great speed to effect an exceptionally secure connection between the parts. In the fourth place; the organization is extremely versatile, permitting ready variation in spacing between'the hollow runners used as stringers so that the ceiling panels may be of uniform dimensions throughout the ceiling. In the fifth place, the wall molding cooperates well with the hollow runners and the connecting ties to rigidity the walls and ceiling structure and to produce an attractive pattern.- Finally, the 'hollow runners provide a neat and attractive way of accommodating air flow through the ceiling subject to extraordinarily accurate control by simple manipulation of the slide valve strips within the runners. s

I claim:

1. In a room having an air duct, a ceiling providing air flow control and comprising a grid of ported hollow runners provided with panel seats, and panels resting on said seats, the said hollow runners having interior portions open into the space above the ceiling and having their respective ports opening directly through the face of the ceiling to the space below the ceiling whereby to provide air communication through the ceiling independently of said panels in further combination with slide valve means within individual hollow runners controlling flow through the parts thereof, the slide valve means comprising strips having ported portions movable to and from registry with the ports of the runners, a plurality of said strips having hook and slot portions interconnected for concurrent movement as a train within a given runner.

2. In a room having an air duct, a ceiling providing air flow control and comprising a grid of ported hollow runners provided with panel seats, and panels resting on said seats, the said hollow runners having interior portions open into the space above the ceiling and having their respective ports opening directly through the face of the ceiling to the space below the ceiling whereby to provide air communication through the ceiling independently of said panels, certain of said runners constituting generally parallel stringers and other transverse runners being supported on the stringer runners, means for suspending the stringer runners, and cross ties connecting the transverse runners therewith, the several runners being channel shaped provided along their upper margins with inturned flanges, the suspending means comprising wires having fittings connected therewith, each fitting having a head in interlocking engagement beneath said flanges and tongues wedging the respective flanges toward the head. I

3. The device of claim 2 in which each such fitting comprises a sheet metal strap having an aperture through which the end of the wire extends and is bent upwardly, the strap having a plurality of tongues embracing the wire transversely in addition to the tongues in wedging engagement with the runner flanges.

4. In a false ceiling, the combination with substantially uniformly spaced and parallel hollow runners comprising stringers and substantially uniformly spaced and parallel transverse runners extending between stringers, of suspending ties supporting the stringer runners, means connecting the transverse runners with the stringer runners, panels filling spaces between the stringer runners and transverse runners and having exposed lower faces to constitute the false ceiling, the ceiling being incorporated in a room having ventilating ducts which establish a pressure differential across the ceiling, each runner comprising a channel having a bottom web portion exposed beneath the ceiling and extending beneath the panels in supporting relation thereto and provided with air circulating ports communicating directly between the spaces above and below said ceiling and disposed between panels, each run ner having its sides offset inwardly from the margins of their said bottom web portions and abutted by the margins of the panels and between which air flow occurs, subject to said pressure differential, and slide valve means mounted on individual runners at points distributed throughout the false ceiling for controlling the pattern of air flow throughout the ceiling,

5. vThe device of claim 4 in which each such tie comprises a wire, a strip of sheet metal having interlocked connection with the wire and provided with a head having shoulders engaged beneath the flanges.

6. The device of claim 5 in which 'each such strip further'includes tongues in wedging engagement with the flanges, the flanges being confined under pressure between the tongues and the. shoulders aforesaid,

7. In a false ceiling, a grid of stringer runners and transverse runners provided with bottom webs, upstanding sides and inwardly formed laterally spaced flanges, the ends of the bottom webs of the transverse runners being cut away and the ends of the upstanding sides of the transverse runners resting on the stringer runners, means connecting the ends of the transverse runners across the stringer runners and means for supporting the stringer runners, the means connecting the ends of the transverse runners comprises slotted straps disposed substantially flat against the flanges of the transverse runners with their slots aligned with the spacing between said flanges, headed and shouldered fittings. extending through the slots of the straps into the stringer and transverse runners having their respective shoulders engaged beneath the respective flanges of all three runners, each fitting having tongue means in wedging engagement with the strap whereby to confine the strap in pressure engagement with the underlying runner flanges.

8. A ventilating partition comprising the combination with a room-enclosing surface, of a false partition spaced from said surface and comprising panels having face portions exposed in the room and with the margins thereof closely spaced, channel shaped runners between the spaced margins of said panels and having substantially parallel walls at substantially the spacing of the margins of said panel face portions, said walls being provided with panel positioning flanges abutted by the faces of said panels and exposed within the room, said channels having apertures opening directly through said false partition, and slide valve means reciprocable along the channels and accessible from the room through said channels for regulating ventilating flow through the false partition.

9. A ventilating partition comprising the combination with a room-enclosing surface, of a false partition spaced from said surface and comprising substantially impervious panels having face portions exposed in the room and having their margins mutually spaced narrowly in longitudinal and transverse directions, channel shaped runners disposed between the margins of said panels and having Walls extending to the room-exposed surfaces of said panels and having room-exposed panel-positioning flanges, such runners having web portions provided with apertures constituting substantially the only means of communication through the false partition and opening directly I through the false partition, and valve means controlling said apertures and comprising slides accessible through the channels from the interior of the room.

10. .In a room having walls, a floor and a ceiling and a false ceiling below the true ceiling, and further having air circulating ducts opening above and below the false ceiling, a false ceiling structure which comprises the combination with a wall molding, of a grid of runners which includes stringer runners mounted at their ends upon the molding and transverse runners having their ends mounted on the stringer runners and substantially impervious panels mounted on the transverse and stringer runners and having their lower surfaces exposed to constitute the lower surface of the false ceiling, the several panels having their margins in close proximity and spaced only by the runners, each such runner comprising upright walls forming passages between the panels and flanges upon which the panel margins are supported, and a bottom web extending substantially continuously between said flanges and constituting a portion of the exposed lower portion of the ceiling, the bottom web provided with a series of slots affording communication between the portion of the room above the false ceiling and the portion of the room beneath it and constituting substantially the sole 5 means for accommodating ventilating flow between said ducts, the several runners being provided throughout the false ceiling with valved means adjustable from beneath the false ceiling for controlling flow through said runners, whereby such flow can be regulated on a localized basis 10 throughout the area of the false ceiling.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Taseif Nov. 17, Lucius Nov. 12, Wright Jan. 5, Urbain Feb. 8, Price Apr. 27, Drury Sept. 21, Grossenbacher et a1 May 24, Bibb et a1 June 14,

FOREIGN PATENTS Belgium Oct. 15, 

